Fair point The original plan was to bend the wood - Put that takes a hell of a long time and a lot of hoping the wood doesnt give out (or decide to go back to its original shape a while later). I'd also thought about going for the single block to give the wood a nice uniform look, (and because with the right wood the side panels would look great). I'd kinda forgotten about the end grain, to much arsing around (and with the shaping to much risk of ruining it). Still, a joint or two wont kill anyone and it'd cost a fortune to find a single pice large enough. Plan 2 involves a chainsaw, a van, a few mates a large beach in wales and the local technical college's woodworking machines (or my dads table saws - college stuff would be nicer though)
Did you consider steaming the wood before you bend it? I've not done this myself, but know it can be done. If not, plan two sounds good, but is it legal?!
Yeah, but its a bitch - Dry the wood & set it in clamps, steam it, bend it a bit. Let it dry. Steam it, bend it a bit more - repeat ad nauseum. (several weeks worth of repeat) One or two joins on the front will be fine - Prolly just dowled n glued, although as you say dovetailing might look cool. Bit more than nab some driftwood - In two years I'm moving out of London and hopefully back to somewhere with some greenery. Before I decided to work in IT I used to work on farms, breeding horses n sheep (plus a little bit of arable) and made a little bit of money from making wierd stuff out of wood. I've almost got enough cash to get a small holding with the missus & do sheep dairy (Coz it pays a little better than cattle dairy). On the side I'm going to get back into making furniture & random junk out of driftwood (crate it back to london and sell it for stupid money) Plan 2 is to make a desk from mostly driftwood with a stealthed PC inside
Not very strong, this is gonna need a strong enough wood to be able to hold the PSU. (heaviest single bit of the computer)
Yes I know balsa wood is not strong, but you can make a frame. The frame can be wood or steel or anything really and then stick the balsa wood to the frame.
honestly, i'd make the front & top out of a piece of board & a thicker post: the board would be the front & you could sand & saw the post to make the curved part leading into the top.... your sides would be pieces of plywood, with think pieces of board as the edges to give you the rounded ability.... bending brass or bronze isn't any easier than wood.... as for the metal inserts, i'd try and find some chrome card door trim or something flexible as such....
